Well I know some of us have been waiting for the ice season to begin and for me it's a special season for many reasons. The last two years have been a pretty ruff road for me in my life and I have finally decided to take the nearest exit and start down a new path that will hopefully bring more for me personally and for my kids. I'm the fittest I have ever been in my life and i feel strong mentally and physically, which are obviously two very important ingredients to a successful and competent alpinist.

I dont post many photos of myself (at least close up and yes I have some blood on my nose from a wrestling match with an icicle) but this is a smile that I havent had for a couple of years and I wanted to share it. There are many reasons for this new path, new life whatever you might call it but a very good friend to me shared a qoute that I will never forget and it changed my life

"Give me the Strength to change what I can and the strength to walk away from what I cant"

And so the season is upon us and I think the Valley Ice Gods have welcomed me with some of the best ice conditions I have seen in almost 10 years. The first day started off with Kenny Gasch and myself setting out sights on One Hitter a climb that hasnt been climbed in a few years.

Kenny and I bared some blizzard like conditions to get this one done but we were motivated for some early season ice

It was a bit thin actually about 4 inches thick at best a really no gear but like I said we were motivated and I was looking to test my head and strength. This is the only photo we took it's about 250 feet of ice which sorta surprised us but it just kept going. 2 days later on Turkey day I decided to get out and go for a short venture on my own which ended up being very rewarding.

I ended up climbing Deer Creek falls and then wondered up above to this thin runnel in the middle of the pic. I began climbing the bottom mixed ground and then got sucked into the climb beyond the point of going down and I didnt bring a rope. I was mostly fun WI4 mixed climbing for about 300 feet. I ended up calling it Wonderwall for many reasons and it was a great step forward for me personally to step out of my comfort zone.

Some friends of mine came to town the next day and we got on the elusive Sendero Illuminoso which hadnt been climbed in many many years and it was pure fun.

So I got to climb 3 out of 5 days and got two personal first ascents and one first ascent, ya gotta love the South Fork Valley in Cody, Wy